The eleventh tablet of the Izdubar series is the one which first attracted attention, and is certainly the most important on account of its containing the story of the Flood. This tablet is the most perfect in the series, scarcely any line being entirely lost. A new fragment of it, belonging to another edition of the story, has been recently brought to the museum by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam.
Tablet XI.
Column I.
- 1. (Izdubar) to him also speaks even to Xisuthrus afar off:
- 2. O Xisuthrus,
- 3. (why) dost thou not again (to me) as I (to thee)?
- 4. (why) dost thou not again (to me) as I (to thee)?
- 5. .... my heart to make war
- 6. .... I come up after thee,
- 7. when thou didst take, and in the assembly of
the gods didst obtain life.
—–———–———–———– - 8. Xisuthrus to him also speaks, even to Izdubar:
- 9. Let me reveal to thee (Izdubar) the story of my preservation,
- 10. and the judgment of the gods let me relate to thee.
- 11. The city Surippak the city which thou knowest on the Euphrates is placed,
- 12. that city is ancient and the gods are within it.
- 13. To make a deluge [or whirlwind] the great gods have brought their heart;
- 14. even he their father, Anu,
- 15. their king, the warrior Bel,
- 16. their throne-bearer, Ninip,
- 17. their minister, the lord of Hades, Nin-si-kha (wife of) Hea with them sat, and
- 18. their will he (i.e. Hea) repeated: to his minister the minister of the city of Kis, he declared what he had (in mind);[28]
- 19. his minister heard and proclaimed attentively:
- 20. Man of Surippak, son of Ubara-tutu,
- 21. build a house, make a ship to preserve the sleep of plants (and) living beings;
- 22. store the seed and vivify life,
- 23. cause also the seed of life of every kind to go up into the midst of the ship.
- 24. The ship which thou shalt make,
- 25. 600 cubits (shall be) its measure in length,
- 26. 60 cubits the amount of its breadth and its height.
- 27. ... and on the deep cover it, even it, with a roof.
- 28. I understood and say to Hea my lord:
- 29. The building of the ship which thou commandest thus,
- 30. .... I shall have made,
- 31. .... the sons of the host and the old men.
- 32. (Hea opened his mouth and) speaks and says to me his servant:
- 33. ...... thou shalt say unto them,
- 34. ...... he has rejected me and
- 35. ...... it is upon me
- 36. .... like caves ....
- 37. ... may I judge above and below ....
- 38. ... close the ship ...
- 39. ... at the season which I will make known to you,
- 40. into it enter and the door of the ship turn.
- 41. Into the midst of it thy grain, thy furniture, thy goods,
- 42. thy wealth, thy woman slaves, thy handmaids, and the sons of the host,
- 43. (the beasts) of the field, the wild animals of the field, as many as I would protect,
- 44. I will send to thee, and thy door shall guard
(them).
—–———–———–———– - 45. Adrakhasis[29] his mouth opened and speaks, and
- 46. says to Hea his lord:
- 47. No one a ship has made ...
- 48. in the lower part of the ship has shut up ....
- 49. .... and may I see the ship ....
- 50. .... in the lower part of the ship ....
- 51. the building of the ship which thou commandest me (thus),
- 52. which in ....
Column II.
- 1. strong ....
- 2. on the fifth day .... it rose.
- 3. In its circuit 14 in all (were) its girders.
- 4. 14 in all it contained ... above it
- 5. I placed its roof; it .... I enclosed it.
- 6. I rode in it the sixth time; I divided its passages the seventh time;
- 7. its interior I divided the eighth time.
- 8. Leaks for the waters within it I cut off.
- 9. I saw the rents and the wanting parts I added.
- 10. 3[30] sari of bitumen I poured over the outside.
- 11. 3[30] sari of bitumen I poured over the inside.
- 12. 3 sari of men carrying baskets, who carried on their heads food.
- 13. I added a saros of food which the people should eat;
- 14. two sari of food the boatmen shared.
- 15. To .... I sacrificed oxen
- 16. I (established) ........ each day
- 17. I (established) ........ beer, food, and wine;
- 18. (I collected them) like the waters of a river, and
- 19. (I collected) like the dust of the earth, and
- 20. (in the ship) the food with my hand I placed.
- 21. (Through the help of) Samas the seaworthiness of the ship was accomplished.
- 22. ... they were strong and
- 23. the tackling of the ship I caused to bring above and below.
- 24. ........ they went in two-thirds of it.
—–———–———–———– - 25. All I possessed I collected it, all I possessed I collected it in silver,
- 26. all I possessed I collected it in gold,
- 27. all I possessed I collected it in the seed of life of all kinds.
- 28. I caused everything to go up into the ship, my slaves and my handmaids,
- 29. the beast of the field, the wild animal of the field, the sons of the people all of them, I caused to go up.
- 30. The season Samas fixed and
- 31. he spake saying: In the night I will cause it to rain from heaven heavily,
- 32. enter into the midst of the ship and shut thy door.
- 33. That season came round (of which)
- 34. he spake saying: In the night I will cause it to rain from heaven heavily.
- 35. Of the day I reached its evening,
- 36. the day of watching fear I had.
- 37. I entered into the midst of the ship and shut my door.
- 38. On closing the ship to Buzur-sadi-rabi the boatman
- 39. the habitation I gave with its goods.
—–———–———–———– - 40. Mu-seri-ina-namari
- 41. arose, from the horizon of heaven a black cloud.
- 42. Rimmon in the midst of it thundered, and
- 43. Nebo and the Wind-god went in front,
- 44. the throne-bearers went over the mountain and plain,
- 45. Nergal the mighty removes the wicked,
- 46. Ninip goes in front, he casts down,
- 47. the spirits of earth carried destruction,
- 48. in their terror they shake the earth;
- 49. of Rimmon his flood reached to heaven.
- 50. The darkened (earth to a waste) was turned,
Column III.
- 1. the surface of the earth like .... they covered,
- 2. (it destroyed all) living beings from the face of the earth;
- 3. the raging (deluge) over the people, reached to heaven.
- 4. Brother saw not his brother, men did not know one another. In heaven
- 5. the gods feared the whirlwind and
- 6. sought a refuge; they ascended to the heaven of Anu.
- 7. The gods like dogs were fixed, in a heap did they lie down.
- 8. Spake Istar like a child,
- 9. the great goddess uttered her speech:
- 10. All to clay are turned and
- 11. that which I in the presence of the gods prophesied (even evil has happened).
- 12. As I prophesied in the presence of the gods evil,
- 13. to evil (were devoted) all my people, the trouble I prophesied thus:
- 14. I the mother have begotten my people, and
- 15. like the young of the fishes they fill the sea. And
- 16. the gods because of the spirits of earth are weeping with me.
- 17. The gods on seats are seated in lamentation,
- 18. covered were their lips for the coming evil.
- 19. Six days and nights
- 20. passed, the wind, the whirlwind, (and) the storm, overwhelmed.
- 21. On the seventh day at its approach the rain was stayed, the raging whirlwind
- 22. which had smitten like an earthquake,
- 23. was quieted. The sea began to dry, and the wind and deluge ended.
- 24. I watched the sea making a noise,
- 25. and the whole of mankind was turned to clay,
- 26. like reeds the corpses floated.
- 27. I opened the window, and the light smote upon the fortress of my nostrils.
- 28. I was grieved and sat down; I weep,
- 29. over the fortress of my nostrils went my tears.
- 30. I watched the regions at the boundary of the sea,
- 31. towards all the twelve points of the compass (there was) no land.
- 32. In the country of Nizir rested the ship;
- 33. the mountain of Nizir stopped the ship, and to pass over it it was not able.
- 34. The first day, the second day, the mountain of Nizir stopped the ship.
- 35. The third day, the fourth day, the mountain of Nizir stopped the ship.
- 36. The fifth day, the sixth day, the mountain of Nizir stopped the ship.
- 37. On the seventh day at its approach
- 38. I sent forth a dove and it left. The dove went, it returned, and
- 39. a resting-place it did not find, and it came back.
- 40. I sent forth a swallow and it left. The swallow went, it returned, and
- 41. a resting-place it did not find, and it came back.
- 42. I sent forth a raven and it left.
- 43. The raven went, and the carrion on the water it saw, and
- 44. it did eat, it swam, and turned away, it did not come back.
- 45. I sent (the animals) forth to the four winds, I sacrificed a sacrifice,
- 46. I built an altar on the peak[31] of the mountain,
- 47. by sevens vessels I placed,
- 48. at the bottom of them I spread reeds, pines, and juniper.
- 49. The gods smelt the savour, the gods smelt the good savour;
- 50. the gods like flies over the sacrificer gathered.
- 51. From afar also the great goddess at her approach
- 52. lifted up the mighty arches (i.e. the rainbow) which Anu had created as his glory.
- 53. The crystal of those gods before me (i.e. the rainbow) never may I forget;
Column IV.